Episode 91: How to Take Your Relationship to the Next Level

Welcome to Episode #91 of The Daily Interaction podcast. How do you take new budding relationships to a deeper, stronger and more meaningful stage. What comes after the initial meet-and-greet and how can you stay top of mind with those whom you meet and want to build a relationship with?

I am dedicating this episode to listener Trevor Torres who sent me this message, and asked some excellent questions, please take a listen. Thank you so much for those questions, Trevor and here we go:

1. How important is it to do a lot of research on a person before you try to connect with them?
Not that important. You want to do a lot of research if you are going to interview them. But if you want to just connect with someone, then just connect with them.

I would say ask yourself: WHY do you want to connect in the first place? What intrigues you about them? What inspires you? What do you see in them that you like to see in yourself someday? Answer those questions for yourself. Verbalize them and USE them as a way to start that initial dialogue.

Example: You want to connect with Chris Brogan. He has hundreds and thousands of fans. He creates content several times a day. He is very well known. How do you connect? Well, start small. What is one thing that he has said or done that has made a difference in your life to the point that you want to tell him that?

Maybe you dig his radical approach to creating content. He creates a LOT of it, and he is constantly on social media. He has no balance :)! He is an over-achiever, much like Gary Vaynerchuck.

Well, the general advice is to balance things out etc. Yet you like his intensity. So tell him that. Let that be the start of your conversation.

Now how do you tell him that? That’s a little tricky. To be MOST effective, watch the place where they are most active and START there. For Brogan, it’s a toss-up between Google+ and Twitter. Then as a general rule, I would say move to email. I find email to be the most intimate form of communication but don’t use it too soon.

Now let’s move on to your next question: Once you make a connection with someone online, what do you do to advance the relationship BEYOND the initial connection?

What do you want that connection to be? What is YOUR vision for it? Do you want this person to become your mentor? Or do you want them to be a teacher in an area for you? Or do you want to share the stage with them one day? Or do you want to collaborate on a project?

Set yourself apart. You need to first believe in yourself and have confidence in what you are doing and what you are creating. That is the most attractive feature. In fact, develop your personal mission.

What is your personal mission with your blog? Think about it, formulate it in your mind, and then, when you know that, you have just as much to offer as the most popular blogger. That’s the place you approach people from and build relationships.

9 Killer Tips to Help Take Your Relationship to the next level

1. Do not put them on a pedestal.
2. Do be respectful.
3. Do not just say “how can I help you with what you are doing?” it’s a blanket statement.
4. Do be aware of what they have going on and offer help in that particular project, say a book campaign or a project launch.
5. Do support their work (comment on their blog, rate their books/podcasts etc.)
6. Do be creative (as you were with me, send a YouTube video with gratitude and your question).
7. Do connect and follow them on their most preferred social platform.
8. Do share their stuff with a personal touch.
9. Do treat them like a normal person.

In short: Be real. Be SINCERE. Be the BEST version of YOURSELF but only yourself and nobody else. And you are going to win big every time and in every connection that’s meant to come into your business and your life.

(download .mp3)